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Tuck into a feast of authentic Yunnan dishes at Cingjing Lumama Restaurant 清境魯媽媽雲南擺夷料理

Apart from enjoying the ubiquitous steamboat meals at their minsu, visitors to Cingjing can also visit Lumama Restaurant, a popular eatery serving authentic Yunnan/Shan tribe cuisine. Located just above Cingjing Farm 清境農場, the restaurant boasts a scenic view of the Central Mountain Range.

Lumama is housed in a pretty stone mansion. At 2044 metres above sea level, come in long pants and a light sweater, especially during night time. You’ve been forewarned ;)

The spacious restaurant occupies two levels Mama Lu, who was originally from the Bai Yi tribe, settled down in Cingjing with her veteran husband who fought alongside Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist forces. The family decided to open a restaurant featuring Mama Lu’s Bai Yi cuisine which gained popularity with visitors. She now runs the dining establishment with help from her children. They also make regular trips to Yunnan to source for ingredients and special soup pots 汽锅。

客似云来 What’s special here is that the restaurant combines authentic Yunnan recipes with local produce from the nearby farms, ensuring a unique taste found nowhere else.

You can order ala carte or if you have enough people (or are REALLY hungry) set meals which includes their specialty dishes. The portions are hearty.

香酥包料魚 Crispy Stuffed Fish God is fair – You are so ugly, but so tasty. LOL. Herbs and spices are stuffed into the Wu Guo Fish/Taiwn Lu Fish 吳郭魚/台灣鯛魚, a cichlidae species, bound with a string to keep the ingredients from falling out and then deep fried to a crisp.

Crispy Stuffed Fish 香酥包料魚 Super yummy – this is a must-order.

It’s Fear Factor time – Crispy deep-fried Bamboo Worms 香酥竹蟲 One of the restaurant’s most popular dishes, these critters are imported from Burma and Thailand inside bamboo cylinders. Once you get over the initial hesitation and pop one inside your mouth, trust me – you will not stop. It was like eating crispy, airy French Fries, minus the fats and pile on the protein and fibre! I could have easily polished off an entire plate by myself. Just don’t stop to examine the worms – I did that for 3 seconds, looking at the many legs and almost gagged. Just eat and don’t think, don’t look, lol.

Spicy Mung Bean Cake 凉拌豌豆粉 A popular cold appetizer, this is a green jelly served with cucumber, coriander and ground peanut dribbled with a sweet, spicy sauce.

Home-made Yunnan preserved meat 腊肠 ＋ 腊肉

Cold Pork Jelly 水晶凍 Think collagen-rich and start eating

Tang Kwei Chicken Soup 當歸鸡汤 This was one of my favourite dishes. The wholesome soup warmed me up nicely and the tang kwei 當歸 so fresh, it was grown in their own backyard.

We even asked the restaurant to dig up a fresh tang kwei to show us since we have never seen this plant in its natural form lol. It is more commonly found as a dried herbal medicine, and best for women. :)

Thick Vermicelli in Soup 傣味米干

Yunnan Chicken Stew Pot 云南汽锅鸡 This is another star dish, do note advance order is required for this dish. Go for it.

Fried minced meat with Preserved Sour Vegetables 酸菜肉丝

Fried Local Cabbage 炒高麗菜 Another simple dish well done. The locally grown cabbage was sweet to the taste, no extra condiments were needed.

Yunnan Pepper Chicken 云南胡椒鸡

Jin Sa 錦灑 Minced Pork with Herbs wrapped in Cabbage A popular Shan dish, it is eaten by wrapping the savoury minced meat with raw locally-grown cabbage. I love the crisp of fresh mountain produce which paired very well with the meat. Best part – low carb! ;)

We were all very satisfied with the hearty meal – it was value for money at TWD3,500 (est. S$148) for 12 dishes + 1 soup. I never thought I could savor authentic Yunnan cuisine at Cingjing, cleverly adapted to make good use of locally-grown produce. The ingredients were fresh and dishes unique, I would think it’s worth a visit for any visitor to this part of town.